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About Just out. (Portland, OR) 1983-2013 | View Entire Issue (Jan. 18, 2008)
JANUARY 18. 2008 culture Grin and Bear It DVD spotlights standup routines; gay comedy show puts the "sketch" in sketchy Laughing Matters: The Men The Logo network has been a mixed blessing for queer culture mavens. For every successful show (say, First Comes Love) there’s been a corresponding dud (say, Noah’s Arc, mercifully canceled). And the fact that Logo famously censors words like “fuck” and “shit” tends to make the network seem a bit less revolutionary than it would have us think. Logo seems to function best in the reality and standup comedy shows. Laughing Matters: The Men, available Feb. 19 on DVD, is a good example of the latter. The show combines typical standup routines by six comics with informal chats. Some of the guys, like Bob Smith riffs on "total bottoms" in Laughing Matters: The Men. Bruce Vilanch, are familiar faces; others, like Scott Kennedy, are rising talents. Alec Mapa works some of the same identity politics as Margaret Cho, although he doesn’t rise to her heights. He does get in some sharp digs at President Bush in an amusing flight of fancy involving a coked-up Dubya on a “cleaning binge” after Hurricane Katrina. Bush also gets right eously slammed by the promising Andre Kelley. Perhaps the standout in the group is Bob Smith, who’s at his satirical best in this hilarious riff: “ 'I’m a total bottom.’ That doesn’t sound sexy. It sounds like a disability [or] like a gay breakfast cereal. ‘Every morning 1 have a big bowl of Total Bottom. It gives me all the vitamins and minerals I need to keep my legs up in the air all night long.’ ” Some of the most fascinating material here comes after the stage show. While hostess Honey Labrador is overly earnest in framing her questions, the boys field them with panache as they discuss their lives, their coming out and their thoughts on contemporary culture and their careers as gay comics. In clear evidence of how far we’ve come in gaining acceptance, Kennedy and Kelley both say they play mostly straight dubs, starting with non gay material and then coming out, with apparently no problem. Smith shines in these interview segments, sardonically undermining the host’s pompous affirmational style with deadpan declara tions like “1 just want to say that being gay is a sad and lonely life.” That’s the kind of statement, so damaging in another time and context, we can now afford to laugh at. —Gary Morris The Big Gay Sketch Show Anything goes in the second season of The Big Gay Sketch Show on Logo. Liza Minnelli acquires superpowers by The Big Gay Sketch Show kicks off its second season swilling dirty martinis and slurring diva Feb. 5 on Logo. battle cries as she protects queens from homophobic thugs. but deduce that O’Donnell doesn’t have the world’s In a spoof of the 1980s soap opera Dynasty, greatest eye for investments. First Taboo— her failed archenemies Krystle and Alexis make out in an stage venture with Boy George—and now an uneven inflatable swimming pool after a knock-down, drag gay knockoff of Saturday Night Live and Mad TV. out catfight. The second episode hits its low point with the A man in drag plays Maya Angelou, bringing final sketch, an endless parody of May-December statuesque dignity to narrations of “men seeking relationships in which David Furnish and men” ads from Craig’s List. At a mail delivery joint, Catherine Zeta-Jones vomit excessively when they gay and straight characters get their rocks off while contemplate the aging body parts of their partners, watching a lusty Latino man process their packages. Elton John and Michael Douglas. Like other Most of these sketches appear in the consistent sketches in this episode—including a sendup of ly funny season opener, which airs Feb. 5. If the closeted Republicans—it’s written at a third-grade second episode, scheduled for Feb. 12, is any indi level. It’s too stupid to be insulting and too dull to cation, viewers are in for a bumpy ride for the rest be a guilty pleasure. of the season. A few of the cast members are terrific, especial Executive producer Rosie O’Donnell watches ly Kate McKinnon and Coleman Domingo. But each episode from a balcony, a playful dyke twist on they’ll be looking for work before long, unless the the crotchety critics on The Muppet Show. As the show’s creators can figure out how to sustain lowbrow fun of the season premiere gives way to the inspired silliness for more than one episode. painfully unfunny second installment, you can’t help —Stephen Blair World Beat Soul Josie Moseley e A Remarkable Choreographer Rock MUSIC MILLENNIUM Women’s Oldies Jazz Folk Gospel Cajun Country New Age Bluegrass Soundtracks Musicals Lounge Big Band Comedy Reggae Spoken Word and more... 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